Could fracking use less water? CSU wants to find out

Nov. 8, 2012

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It takes up to 5 million gallons of water to hydraulically fracture an oil and gas well one time.

With nearly all of Northern Colorado’s oil and gas wells fracked sometimes more than once, the volume of fresh water the process uses is huge.

Now, with a major federal grant in hand, Colorado State University is working with one of the biggest companies in Northern Colorado’s Niobrara shale oil play to find ways to reduce the water consumption of oil and gas drilling and fracking.

The $1.4 million U.S. Department of Energy grant will allow CSU civil engineering professor Ken Carlson to work with Noble Energy for two years to find ways to help the energy industry design water treatment plants to recycle waste water, or “flowback,” from oil and gas well drilling and fracking.

Fracking water, much of which comes from municipal and agricultural sources, is becoming scarce, and the project will help companies to recycle the flowback instead of using it once and then getting rid of it, Carlson said Thursday.

“They’d start using their water more than once,” he said. “Their water supplies are getting harder to find and the fracturing companies have figured out how to use less-than-fresh water.”

Both Noble Energy and Halliburton are part of the project, and CSU is also trying to involve Anadarko Petroleum, he said.

“This is driven by efficiency, and if the industry is more efficient with water use, there’s less risk of environmental impact,” Carlson said. “Another benefit of recycling is a reduction of stress on agriculture water and a reduced risk of regional water depletion.”

Carlson said he hopes the project will also help reduce water truck traffic on area roads.